Imagine being a teacher and having 25 students between the ages of 4 and 12 in the same classroom. While you’re teaching one student how to hold a pencil, you have to explain fractions to another; you don’t have up-to-date materials, and no one is there to help you. This is the reality faced every day by more than 22,000 rural teachers in Colombia’s most remote schools.

I’m Sarah, a Fulbright Scholar in the Class of 2025 and co-founder of Colombiando. I’ve experienced this reality firsthand and have seen up close the challenges these rural teachers face. The situation is critical. Today, more than half of students finish fifth grade without understanding what they read or mastering basic math operations.

Amid all the challenges, we discovered something we rarely see: multigrade classrooms have enormous potential to transform the way children learn. At Colombiando, we realized that these schools have unique conditions that make them ideal places for learning.

That’s why Clase Viva was founded. With the support of education experts at Columbia University and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and in collaboration with teachers, students, and families, we co-created a methodology that enables children to learn through projects connected to their own lives. We want them to ask questions, explore, experiment, create, work as a team, and develop the skills they need to understand and transform the world around them.

We want Clase Viva to reach five rural multigrade schools in the mountains of Carmen de Viboral in Antioquia, and you can make that happen.

A comprehensive weekly mentoring program featuring pre-designed projects, support in adapting the materials to your specific context, and guidance on implementation from a local leader. Five multigrade teachers in Antioquia receive weekly pedagogical mentoring for an entire semester.
The creation and adaptation of the materials they will use with their students.

The first set of educational data generated from multigrade rural classrooms in their municipalities.

As part of our campaign, we want to bring the pilot program to five rural schools in Antioquia.

Your contribution makes it possible to:

• Five multigrade teachers in Antioquia will receive weekly pedagogical support for a full year.
• The creation and adaptation of the materials they will use with their students.
• The first set of educational data generated from multigrade rural classrooms in their municipalities.